Presently, the methods for installing synthetic bone graft material are commonly well known. Generally the known methods provide preservation of the alveolar ridge surrounding a presently extracted root socket by backfilling the socket with bone graft material and installing an implant in the root socket area either immediately before backfilling or after backfilling and a delay in which new bone is allowed to grow into the bone graft material. It is also known, that usually, the dental implant is installed apically into the root socket immediately following root extraction. The open area of the root socket surrounding the implant is then backfilled with bone graft material immediately after implant placement. The implant is mostly a threaded implant (but it can be a cylinder-type) which is usually placed about 3 mm–6 mm apically to said root socket, as it is well known from prior art. The bone graft material comprises synthetic bone alloplast (e.g. such as Bioplant.RTM. HTR.RTM.) and is hydrated using the patient's own blood obtained from the patient's bleeding extraction socket after penetration but prior to insertion of the bone graft material and the implant into said root socket. According to the another known variant, the presently extracted root socket is filled with bone graft material and primary or non-primary closure of the extraction site is performed. Bone-growth is promoted in the root socket by the bone graft material for 2–12 months. Then, after sufficient bone growth has been promoted, an implant is installed in the extraction site area in the normal manner.
In compliance with the National Survey on Oral Health conducted by the National Institute of Dental Research, over 40% of Americans over 65 years of age and about 4% of those 35 to 64 are totally edentulous. Moreover known, that those over 65 years old who still have some of their teeth have lost an average of 12 of their 28 teeth, and persons aged 55 to 64 have lost an average of 9 of their 28 teeth. Also, it is known, when an extracted or otherwise missing tooth is not replaced, atrophy of the jaw bone occurs over time. Consequently, individuals who have been partially or fully edentulous for an extended period of time are left with an atrophic alveolar ridge that can not securely support a full or partial denture or support the placement of a dental implant. The edentulous individual faces a continuing deterioration of aesthetics and a compromised ability to chew leaving the quality of the individual's oral life in an unfortunate state.
The deteriorating effect of tooth extraction on the alveolar ridge is commonly known, and it is also well known, that a tooth of a patient, comprised of a crown and root seated in the alveolar (or jaw) bone. The buccal and lingual portion of the alveolar bone is surrounded by a layer of tissue known as the gingiva or gum. The crown and root are supported by the alveolar ridge or jaw bone and the gingiva which, in the ideal case, is adjacent to the tooth at a level gum line over the underlying bone. When such a tooth or series of teeth become infected or otherwise dentally compromised such that the extraction of the crown and root are required, the root is removed from the alveolar bone by separating the surface of the root from the periodontal membrane. The portion of the alveolar bone shortly after extraction of the crown and root has bleeding clots, such that bleeding ceases and a root extraction socket remains in the alveolar bone in the shape of the extracted root. The buccal and lingual portions of the alveolar bone are composed of bone having a unique characteristic, i.e., being capable of absorbing the shocks caused by the stress movement of teeth during speech, eating, etc. The removal of a tooth and the resulting absence of frequent use pressure in the area causes the alveolar bone to shrink in that area where pressure is no longer applied (the extraction site) with the subsequent loss of 40%–60% (in a 2 to 4 year time) of the alveolar ridge's former height measured at the gum line (i.e., “disuse atrophy”). FIG. 3 shows 30 Approximately two years after the extraction of the tooth an extraction site has various degrees of loss of buccal and crestal alveolar bone. The jaw bone continues to atrophy at a bone loss rate of ½%–1% per year until death of the patient. At the modern time, the bone graft substitute material has been used to immediately fill a root extraction socket at an extraction site after a root extraction in order to promote bone growth and to avoid the expected bone atrophy (a.k.a. “Ridge Preservation”). Bone growth is promoted via the bone graft material's intermixing with the patient's own marrow blood which seeps through the root extraction socket. After some time to allow alveolar bone regeneration (approximately 1–1.5 years) dense lamina bone forms in the extraction socket area. The patient may then be considered for a denture prosthesis.
There are known some variations of the procedure, for example, inherited in the method for installing an implant in a root extraction socket and backfilling the socket area immediately after extraction (a.k.a. “immediate post-extraction implant installation”), and the method for backfilling a root extraction socket with bone graft material immediately after extraction and then delaying installation of an implant in the root extraction socket until bone graft material has promoted sufficient bone growth in the root extraction socket (a.k.a. “delayed post-extraction implant installation”).
These variations are described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,627, which discloses the method and apparatus for preserving the alveolar ridge around a newly extracted root socket and providing an immediate post-extraction installation of an implant by: a) immediately installing an implant in a root extraction socket following root extraction, and b) filling the remaining space in the socket with bone graft material to encourage new bone growth in the extraction site. Generally, according to an aspect of the invention, the method for preserving the alveolar ridge around a newly extracted root socket comprises the steps of installing a dental implant apically 3 mm–6 mm to the root extraction socket, filling the remaining open area of the root extraction socket with bone graft material by a syringe and retaining the bone graft material during initial healing of the bone and gingiva with a restraint such as sutures, or a collagen or a surgical foil dressing, and/or method for delayed post-extraction installation of an implant by filling the root extraction socket with bone graft material using the mentioned syringe immediately after root extraction and, after sufficient new bone growth has been promoted by the bone graft material in the root extraction socket, installing an implant in the new bone growth utilizing known methods and apparatus for installing an implant in a normal, non-atrophied jaw bone.
The apparatus of this prior art comprises the dental syringe and implant. The syringe is presented by the straight syringe HTR.RTM.-24, Item #H216102, or curved syringe HTR.RTM.-24, Item #H216112 available from Bioplant, Inc. (20 North Main Street, Norwalk, Conn. 06854), filled with 750 micron diameter HTR.RTM. to absorb blood from the bleeding root extraction socket. The syringe generally includes the handle coupled with the piston and the straight or curved cylinder with the attachable nozzle.
Another analogous syringe is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/831,941.
All known syringes are inconvenient considering non-adjustable travel/stroke of the piston inside the cylinder. Also, the known prior art includes the nozzle, which does not provide sufficient and convenient suction of the blood from the bleeding root extraction socket (i.e., the known syringes do not provide satisfied consistent of the final mixture of the sucked blood from the bleeding root extraction socket into the bottom jaw and synthetic bone graft material (e.g. such as HTR.RTM, etc.).
Thus, there is a great need in the art for the non-expensive and convenient improved apparatus for dental implant treatment, providing easy syringe's piston travel adjustment and better mixture of the patient's own blood from the bleeding root extraction socket with the synthetic bone graft material located into the syringe's cylinder.